Now, have a breathtaking view of Araku valley

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Sunday inaugurated the trial run of the vistadome coach to Araku through video conference in the presence of people’s representatives and railway officials at the Visakhapatnam Railway Station.

Mr. Sarveswara Rao said though Ooty was cool throughout the year, it was only the Agency areas of Visakhapatnam district like Dallapalli and Lammasingi that were experiencing sub zero temperatures during winters.

Plea for more facilities

He also advocated promotion of organic foods, produced by the tribal people, in a big way through provision of local cuisines to tourists at the local hotels.

He suggested that the fare on the vistadome coach was very high and sought that it should be brought within the reach of the common people and tribal people.

Mr. Srinivasulu Naidu felt that the railways could develop accommodation facilities at the Borra and Araku railway stations for the benefit of tourists.

Mr. Madhav said more vistadome coaches would be needed on the Araku train as there was huge demand from tourists.

He wanted the Visakhapatnam Junction to be developed on the lines of the Chatrapathi Shivaji Terminus (CST) in Mumbai as a terminal station. He expressed confidence that the long-pending demand for a new railway zone in AP with headquarters in Visakhapatnam would materialise soon.

Ms. Gita utilised the opportunity to tell the Railway Minister through video conference that the people of Visakhapatnam were eagerly awaiting an announcement on the new zone.

Later, the Railway Minister dedicated the vistadome coach through video conference. He also laid the foundation stone for setting up of an automated laundry for washing/cleaning of linen under BOOT (Build, Own, Operate and Transfer) model in Visakhapatnam.

Divisional Railway Manager Chandralekha Mukherjee said a second vistadome coach would be arriving in Visakhapatnam by the end of this month and it would be attached to the Visakhapatnam-Kirandul passenger.